Czech architecture firm Mjölk Architekti has built a series of tiny ice pods, the design of which took first place in the Warming Huts Competition five years ago, in their home town of Liberec. The “Polar Hens” sit adjacent to the Liberec dam so that local hikers and ice skaters can take a break in the icy retreats . The igloo pods are made out of a very thick ice shell of compressed frozen river water. To construct the pods, a large inflatable balloon is equipped with a sprinkler connected to a compressor and generator. A water pump sprays icy water over the air-filled silicone balloon, creating a thick wall of ice that glows with a light blue tint . When the walls are thick enough, the inflatable base is removed, leaving a nicely formed igloo in its place. Although the pods look small from the outside, the smooth interior is quite spacious, and provides a nice haven for cold weather adventurers. Related: Ice Sculptures Embedded with Seeds Repopulate Riverbeds as they Melt The Polar Hen design won the Warming Huts Competition in 2012 . The annual event features architecture firms from all over the world showcasing their unique cold-weather shelter designs along the Red River Mutual Trail in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The winning designs are chosen by a “blind” jury who judge the entries based on creativity in terms of materials, shelter characteristics , assembly and form, along with integration with the landscape. + Mjölk Architekti Via Archdaily Images via Mjölk Architekti

Comments Off on Warming Huts 2017 winning designs are inspired by beaches, lanterns, and open borders

Warming Huts , an ” Art + Architecture Competition ” whose entrants design huts fit for the cold Winnipeg winters, have revealed their 2017 winners. Three winning teams designed the 2017 huts, which include a lantern-like hut, an ice block cabin and an “open border” hut. This year’s five winning huts are creative out-of-the-box designs that were inspired by history, tropical beaches and even politics . Warming Huts invited Anish Kapoor to design a hut this year, and he envisioned “Stackhouse,” a geometric hut to be made wholly of ice blocks. They also selected the design of Nelson McIntyre Collegiate student Sean Kohli “On The Rails,” which was inspired by local history of rail transportation. Related: ROPE Pavilion by KNE Studio Is An Elegant Woven Warming Shelter In Canada Warming Huts also selected three winners. Team 888 of Chicago designed the winning “Greetings From Bubble Beach,” a geodesic dome retreat reminiscent of “an inverse snow globe,” according to the project description . Set on a wooden base, the dome will create a warm respite allowing visitors to step into summer. Team 888 plans to equip the dome with deck chairs, a palm tree, and a “sand-like ground layer.” The hut “Ice Lantern” is another winner. Designed by Lisa Tondino, Alexandra Bolen, Mathew Rodrigues, and Drew Klassen of Novia Scotia, Canada, designers say Ice Lantern is based on primitive hut archetypes. The lantern portion will hover over the snow, held in place by an “iglu snow-mound structure.” That structure will include wooden bench seating, offering warmth through natural insulation from the snow. The third winning design is “Open Border” from Joyce de Grauw and Paul van den Berg of the Netherlands. The two designers created a hut that looks like a red wall crossing an ice skating trail in the area. But skaters can shelter in the wall and cross through it at any point along the installation. In January 2017, the winners will travel to Winnipeg, Canada to construct the huts they designed. + Warming Huts Via Bustler Images via Warming Huts

Comments Off on Astronomers just calculated when a day on Earth will be 25 hours long

Many jokes are made about creating just one more hour in the day, but that will eventually become a reality. After a review of celestial data spanning 27 centuries, a team of astronomers has determined that Earth’s orbit slows almost two milliseconds every 100 years . If the slowdown continues—and it’s expected to—Earth will eventually experience an extra hour each day. Some careful math helped researchers estimate how long it might take for the orbit to slow enough to create a whole new hour. Collecting ancient documentation of celestial events , such as eclipses, was no small task. Researchers at Durham University and the UK’s Nautical Almanac Office collated data on events from 720BC to 2015, a span of 2,735 years. The oldest records came from Babylonian clay tablets written in cuneiform, with more added from ancient Greek texts, and scripts from China, medieval Europe, and the Arab region. Related: Newly discovered ‘ghost galaxy’ full of dark matter is as big as the Milky Way Leslie Morrison is an astronomer and co-author of the study, which was just published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. Morrison and his team evaluated nearly 3,000 celestial records in order to arrive at the estimated orbital slowing rate of 2ms per century. Although it’s been long known that the Earth’s orbit is gradually slowing, this is the first study to produce an estimated rate of that change. The study results also discuss some of the factors in the Earth’s orbital slowdown, including the tidal braking effect caused by the moon’s gravity, changes in the world’s sea levels, and the electromagnetic forces between Earth’s core and its rocky mantle. Don’t start making plans for how to spend your extra hour. According to the study results, it will be another two million centuries before Earth’s day lengthens to 25 hours. Via The Guardian Images via NASA ( 1 , 2 )